text: A U.S. congressional delegation will meet for talks with Cuban officials on Monday in the highest-level contact between the two nations since plans for trade reforms were announced. The symbolic meeting between the U.S. delegation and its old cold war foe will be led by Senator Patrick Leahy and could be attended by President Raul Castro. U.S. delegates are set to tell Cuban officials that their actions in the coming months will influence Congressional openness to President Barack Obama's plans. Scroll down for video . Cuba's President Raul Castro, right, speaks with U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, left, a Democrat from Vermont in 2012 the pair could meet again for talks on Monday over trade reforms . U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy from Vermont takes pictures from a car as he tours the city during a three-day visit to Havana, Cuba, Sunday, Jan. 18, 2015 . This is the first congressional delegation to visit Cuba since Obama proposed to effectively ease the embargo on the country which has been in place for decades. Leahy and five other Democratic senators and representatives are trying to ease the reestablishment of full relations with Cuba as the two countries hold talks aimed at normalizing trade relations. They also want to gauge how Castro's government will respond to the U.S. push to expand diplomatic relations and trade ties. However, it is not the first time that Leahy, who played a key role in the release of American contractor Alan Gross as part of a prisoner exchange, has dealt with the secretive regime. He met Castro on past trips to Cuba and was expected to do so again on Monday, two days before Assistant Secretary of State Roberta Jacobson arrives in Havana to negotiate the reopening of the U.S. Embassy. Cuba has so far offered a guardedly positive reception to Obama's loosening of the trade embargo on Cuba, saying it welcomes the full package of new economic ties on offer. U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy is heading the first congressional delegation visit to Cuba since President Barack Obama announced in December plans for renewed economic ties with Cuba . The sweeping reforms could affect sales of telecommunications equipment and exports to the private business sector. But it comes after Obama defied hardline critics in Congress to begin loosening some U.S. economic sanctions against the communist-ruled island. To date, Cuba has released 53 prisoners on a list of dissidents the U.S. wanted freed. But it has said nothing about whether it will allow U.S. products to flow to Cuba without the staggering taxes and regulations that keep many other foreign products from ordinary Cubans. It also insists it will maintain its one-party political system and centrally planned economy. Leahy said: 'We are seeing a remarkable change in relations between our countries and we want to talk to some of the Cubans to see what they think about it, to see what's going to happen next.' 'Obviously we hope to have a lot more freedom of expression among Cubans, but also the ability for our own two countries to talk with each other, something long overdue.' With formal diplomatic relations highly restricted, some of the most significant U.S.-Cuban contacts in recent years have been carried out by Congressional delegations. Obama's actions fall under executive authority and don't require Congressional approval. But legislators could still hinder key measures including the removal of Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terror. On Saturday, the delegation met with officials from Cuba's Culture Ministry about possible Cuban participation in the Smithsonian Institution's Folklife Festival on Washington's National Mall. The senators met Sunday with more than a dozen dissidents including critics of the 18-month-old secret negotiations that led to last month's announcement. Antonio Rodiles who has criticized the Obama administration for failing to win enough guarantees of reform from Castro said: 'It was a friendly meeting.' Elizardo Sanchez, head of the Cuban Human Rights and National Reconciliation Commission, a Cuban non-governmental organization tracking political detentions said that meeting participants had delivered a list of 24 long-term prisoners whom they wanted to see released in addition to the 53 on the Obama administration's list. On Monday, along with the possible meeting with Castro, the delegation will hold talks with lower-ranking Cuban officials in fields like agriculture, the environment and telecommunications.